...I knew that kugel means rifle...
Actually kugel means ball. Some tightly choked shotgun barrels are marked "nicht für Kugel" (not for ball). An engravers block is known as a "Graveure Kugel."
Roger
Roger,
yes, first of all, "Kugel" means ball, any solid spheric object (those air-filled things for playing soccer are called "Ball").
The correct German term for rifle is "Büchse", and "Flinte" for shotgun.
But in colloquial hunters' language, especially in southern Germany and Austria, rifle is "Kugelgewehr" and shotgun is "Schrotgewehr".
The marking "nicht für Kugel" on shotgun barrels was used long time ago, I think before World War I, if I remember correctly? Anyway, in a time when some people still shot real balls through shotgun barrels, so ballistically and legally it is the correct term.
Still it sounds a bit odd to me.
Because today, and as long as I can think back (50 years or so) "Kugel" means any bullet that goes through a rifled barrel, no matter how long or pointed that bullet is.
And often "Kugel" does not only mean the bullet but the complete cartridge.
To make things clearer, a real ball for a muzzle loader is indeed called "Rundkugel" / round ball...
Any solid object for shotgun barrels is called "Flintenlaufgeschoss" - "shotgun barrel bullet" ....
But because this is such a long and official word, the colloquial term is simply "Brenneke".
Regards,
fuhrmann
